In 1996, a public/private partnership began funding Union Station's $250 million restoration. By 1999, the station reopened as a series of museums and other public attractions. In 2002, Union Station saw its return as a train station when
Amtrak began providing public transportation services and has since become Missouri's second-busiest train station. As of 2010, the refurbished station boasts theaters, ongoing museum exhibits, and attractions such as the
Science City at Union Station, the
Irish Museum and Cultural Center, and the
Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity.

Contents

History

Union Depot, circa 1880

Union Depot

On April 8, 1878, Union Depot opened on a narrow triangle of land in Kansas City between Union Avenue and the railroad tracks of the
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad in present-day
West Bottoms.[3] Nicknamed the "Jackson County Insane Asylum" by those who thought it was too large, it was the second
union station in the country,[3] after the
one in Indianapolis. The new depot was a hybrid of the
Second Empire style and
Gothic Revival. The lead architect was Asa Beebe Cross who "adorned the exterior of the building with intricate towers of varying heights, arched windows framed in stone and rows of dormers projecting from the steeply pitched
mansard roof";[3] it had a
clock tower above the main entrance that was 125 feet (38 m) in height. By the start of the 20th century, over 180 trains were passing daily through the station, serving a city whose population had tripled during its first-quarter century of operation.[3] In 1903, the lack of room for expansion and a major flood[4] led the city and the railroads to decide a new station was required.

New location

A typical crowd in the Grand Hall of the new Union Station, circa 1950s

The new location was chosen to be a valley at 25th Street and Grand Avenue used by the Kansas City Belt Railway; it was south of the
central business district, above and away from the
floodplain.[3]

Norfolk and Western's City of St. Louis at Union Station in 1967

The architect chosen to design the Union Station building was
Jarvis Hunt, a proponent of the
City Beautiful movement.[5] The design was a main hall for ticketing, and a perpendicular hall extending out over the tracks for passenger waiting. The
Beaux-Arts station opened on October 30, 1914, as the second-largest train station in the country. The building encompassed 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2), the ceiling in the Grand Hall is 95 feet (29 m) high, there are three chandeliers weighing 3,500 pounds (1600 kg) each, and the Grand Hall clock has a six-foot (1.8-m) diameter face. Due to its central location, Kansas City was a hub for both passenger and freight rail traffic. The scale of the building reflected this status.[citation needed]

A large crowd gathered in front of Union Station for the 1921 dedication of the
Liberty Memorial site.

Loading platform, 1974

In 1945, annual passenger traffic peaked at 678,363. As train travel declined beginning in the 1950s, the city had less and less need for a large train station. By 1973, only 32,842 passengers passed through the facility, all passenger train service was now run by Amtrak, and the building was beginning to deteriorate. The city government of Kansas City wished to preserve and redevelop the building. To facilitate this, they made a development deal with Trizec Corporation, a
Canadian redevelopment firm. Included in the deal was an agreement that Trizec would redevelop the station. Between 1979 and 1986, Trizec constructed two office buildings on surrounding property, but did not redevelop the station. In 1985, Amtrak moved all passenger operations to a smaller facility. By this time, the station was essentially closed. In 1988, the city filed suit against Trizec for the failure to develop the station; the case was settled in 1994. For most of this time period, the building continued to decay.

Building

The Beaux-Arts building consists of a Grand Hall with three large hanging chandeliers and ornate ceiling work, and the Grand Plaza, or North Waiting Room, now called the Sprint Festival Plaza. A large clock hanging from the central arch divides the two sections of the building.

Renovation

In 1996, residents in five counties throughout the
metropolitan area in both
Kansas and
Missouri approved the so-called "bi-state tax", a 1/8 of a cent
sales tax, part of which helped to fund just under half of the $250 million restoration of Union Station. Renovation began in 1997 and was completed in 1999. The remaining money was raised through private donations and federal funding.

Today, Union Station receives no public funding. Current operating costs are funded by general admission and theater ticketing, grants, corporate and private donations, commercial space leases and facility rental. Union Station is a nonprofit
501c3 organization. Union Station is now home to
Science City, a family-friendly interactive science center with more than 50 hands-on exhibits; the H&R Block City Stage Theater, a live-action venue with productions for young and old alike; the Regnier Extreme Screen, the largest 3-D movie screen in the region at five and half stories tall; two restaurants, including Pierponts, an upscale steak and seafood restaurant, and the Harvey's at Union Station; shops, including Rocky Mountain Chocolate, The Science City Store, The Kansas City Store opening in 2011 and Parisi Coffee; the Gottlieb Planetarium, the largest
planetarium in the area; and various temporary museum exhibits including the internationally acclaimed Dead Sea Scrolls in 2007, Bodies Revealed in 2008, Dialog in the Dark in 2009, Dinosaurs Unearthed in 2010 and Diana, A Celebration focusing upon Princess Diana in 2011. The
Irish Museum and Cultural Center has been located in the station since March 17, 2007.[citation needed]

Current Amtrak service

Grand Plaza or North Waiting Room (also now known as Sprint Festival Plaza) of Union Station, 2011

There are currently four departures a day from the station. Two depart for
St. Louis via Amtrak's
Missouri River Runner route, one departs for Chicago via the Southwest Chief, and one departs for
Los Angeles, also via the Southwest Chief.

Of the twelve Missouri stations served by Amtrak, Kansas City was the second busiest in the 2015
fiscal year, boarding or disembarking an average 421 passengers daily.[8][9]